Ever found yourself needing to create multiple pages with similar layouts on your WordPress site? Whether you’re building product pages, location-specific content, or a series of similar posts, duplicating pages can save you tons of time and effort. It’s a handy trick that every WordPress user should know.
Reasons for duplicating a page
Duplicating pages in WordPress offers several advantages for efficient content management and website development:
- Time-saving content creation: Duplicate pages serve as templates for creating multiple pages with similar layouts. This approach streamlines the process of developing product pages, location-specific content, or a series of related posts.
- Consistent design and structure: By duplicating pages, you maintain a uniform layout and structure across your website. This consistency enhances user experience and presents a professional appearance.
- A/B testing facilitation: Duplicating pages enables easy A/B testing for different versions of content. This method is particularly useful for optimizing landing pages or testing variations for Facebook ads.
- Multilingual website development: Page duplication simplifies the creation of multilingual websites. You can duplicate a page and translate its content while maintaining the original structure and design.
- Repurposing evergreen content: Duplicating pages allows you to repurpose existing content efficiently. This approach reduces the need to recreate similar content from scratch, saving time and effort.
- Streamlined design process: For large websites requiring multiple pages with similar content, duplicating pages can significantly streamline the design process. This method is especially beneficial when working with complex layouts or custom designs.
- Efficient content updates: When you need to make similar updates across multiple pages, starting with a duplicated page ensures consistency and reduces the likelihood of errors.
While duplicating pages offers numerous benefits, it’s crucial to customize the content of each duplicated page to avoid duplicate content issues. Ensure each page provides unique value to your website visitors and search engines.
Manual Method
The manual method for duplicating a page in WordPress is straightforward and doesn’t require any plugins. Here’s how to do it step-by-step:
1. Navigating to the Page Editor
Access your WordPress admin panel and locate the “Pages” section in the left sidebar. Click on “All Pages” to view a list of your existing pages. Find the page you want to duplicate and hover over its title to reveal additional options.
2. Using the “Copy to a New Draft” Feature
Click on the “Copy to a new draft” link that appears when you hover over the page title. This action creates a duplicate of the selected page as a new draft. The duplicated page will open in the editor, ready for modifications.
3. Editing the Duplicated Content as Needed
Once the page is duplicated, you can edit its content:
- Change the page title to avoid duplicate titles
- Modify the content to make it unique
- Update any internal links to ensure they’re relevant
- Adjust the permalink to reflect the new page’s purpose
- Review and update meta descriptions and other SEO elements
Remember to customize the duplicated content to prevent duplicate content issues and provide unique value to your visitors. This practice ensures each page on your site serves a specific purpose and contributes positively to your SEO efforts.
Duplicating pages with Gutenberg editor
The Gutenberg editor in WordPress offers a straightforward method for duplicating pages without the need for plugins. This process involves copying the entire content of a page and pasting it into a new one.
Using the “Copy All Content” Option
- Open the page you want to duplicate in the WordPress admin panel.
- Click the three-dot menu icon in the top-right corner of the Gutenberg editor.
- Select “Copy all content” from the dropdown menu.
- This action copies the entire page content to your clipboard, including all blocks and formatting.
- Navigate to Pages > Add New in your WordPress dashboard.
- In the new Gutenberg editor, click the three-dot menu icon.
- Choose “Paste” from the dropdown menu.
- The copied content appears in the new page, preserving all blocks and formatting.
- Update the page title and URL slug to differentiate it from the original.
- Review and edit the content to ensure uniqueness and relevance.
- Publish the new page when ready.
This method efficiently duplicates pages while allowing for customization to avoid duplicate content issues and improve SEO. It’s particularly useful for creating multiple pages with similar layouts or for A/B testing different page versions.
Considerations after duplication:
After duplicating a page in WordPress, several important steps ensure your new page functions correctly and avoids SEO pitfalls. Here’s what you need to address:
Updating Page Title and URL Slug
Modify the page title and URL slug of your duplicate page to distinguish it from the original. This prevents confusion for both users and search engines. Update the title to accurately reflect the new page’s content. Adjust the URL slug to be unique and descriptive, incorporating relevant keywords if possible. These changes help maintain a clear site structure and improve SEO.
Modifying Content to Avoid Duplicate Content Issues
Duplicate content can negatively impact your site’s search engine rankings. To avoid this:
- Rewrite significant portions of the text
- Update images and media
- Add new, relevant information
- Adjust headings and subheadings
- Modify meta descriptions and alt text (or keywords if you still use them)
These changes ensure your duplicate page offers unique value to visitors and search engines alike.
Checking and Updating Internal Links
Review all internal links on your duplicated page. Update or remove links that:
- Point to the original page
- No longer make sense in the new context
- Lead to outdated or irrelevant content
Ensure all internal links are functional and relevant to the new page’s purpose. This maintains a smooth user experience and prevents broken links, which can harm your site’s SEO performance.
Using Plugins
Duplicating pages in WordPress can significantly streamline your content creation process. Whether you choose manual methods or plugins you’ll save time and maintain consistency across your site. Remember to customize your duplicated pages to avoid SEO issues and provide unique value to your visitors. By following the steps outlined in this guide you’ll master the art of page duplication in WordPress enhancing your site’s efficiency and user experience. Start duplicating pages today and watch your WordPress site grow with ease and precision.